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 Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 9:12 pm
((OOC: Righty-oh. Moving on now.))
Katalina thought earlier that she'd heard a faint splashing, as though someone were coming to them in a big hurry. Now she was vindicated as Kra's eyes moved past them to someone behind and he rumbled, "Well. It appears we have another visitor."
Katalina turned around and let out a soft breath of surprise. It was Narcis, again. "What are you doing--?" she began, but cut herself off at the look of worry on his face.
"Cousin," he said briefly. "Listen. I..." He trailed off. It was so rare to see him fumble for words that she felt her first twinge of real fear. "It's Nezik," he finished. "I..."
"What about him?" she asked, shocked. Nezik? Her brother who was never so much as allowed out of the caverns? What had he done?
Narcis hesitated. "He's gone," he stated flatly. "Your mother told me he must have left sometime in the past few hours. No one knows where he is. They sent me to ask you..." He stopped again, examined her face and sighed. "And this is news to you. You have no idea where he is."
Katalina could do nothing but nod.
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Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2009 8:28 am
 Joshua glanced up from the young kraken, only to freeze at the sight of Narcis. He stayed frozen, listening. It didn't seem like the siren had even noticed he was here. 'Nezik is gone? Katalina's brother?' He thought in surprise, recalling the young merman he had talked to. Where in the seas would the merman have gone? If Narcis was sent out to Katalina, then they must have thought Nezik had gone to her. 'But she's not where she normally is. Normally, she's over at the cove or nearby. And he's been gone several hours....' Joshua started thinking things through.
"Katalina?" He asked absently. "Does Nezik know where you normally stay?" 'If he does, then there's a chance that he went there like the others think. How long have we been away?' Joshua wasn't sure of the time frame. He'd been too engrossed by the krakens to pay attention to time. 
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Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2009 9:22 am
Joey had, surprisingly made it back to shore. He wrapped his knee up and winced. At least it wasn't deep. He looked around. Joshua and Katalina were still gone. It was noon already. "Where are they?" His gaze scanned the waters, as if he expected to see them come swimming in. "Of course not..." He sighed and sat down in the sand, waiting patiently.
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Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2009 10:13 am
Katalina's eyes lowered. "Did Mother try speaking to him?" she asked Narcis. "Calling him?" At the siren's mute nod, she shook her head in irritation. There had to be some way to find Nezik. She knew better than anyone that her sheltered younger brother wasn't going to survive long in the world outside if he just jumped in the way he had. Approached the right way, the boy could be fatally friendly, and his fascination with humans - something he'd gotten from her, she remembered guiltily - could easily kill him.
She jumped a little when Joshua spoke, obviously trying to think. "I...don't think so," she said. "When I left, even I didn't know where I was going. And I haven't been back since, except for that visit with you, Joshua."
Narcis interrupted. "But I know where you live," he pointed out, "and yet you've never told me directly. Word gets around, cousin. If he cared to, Nezik could surely find out where you are." He looked at the human with a sort of new respect - apparently he hadn't thought Joshua could reason it out that far.
Then Katalina spoiled it. "But he's impatient," she said softly. "If he went to find me and I wasn't there, he wouldn't wait there for me to come back. He'd start looking for me. By now, he could be anywhere." Her nerves were evident.
Narcis's eyes were trained on her in a way that seemed very soft, even considering Katalina's claim that they were fairly close friends. He shook his head. "If you hear from him, can you let me know? I have to keep looking - his mother's fairly frantic." Putting a hand lightly on Katalina's arm, he said, "I'm sorry to worry you, cousin, but everyone assumed he would have gone to you."
"It's all right, Narcis," she said quietly. "I'm glad to know. I'll keep an eye out for him." As the Siren left, she turned back to Joshua and Kra, with a helpless shake of her head.
((OOC: Gonna stop here because I've been running away with this long enough. >.>))
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Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2009 12:50 pm
Joshua clenched his fists. "There has to be someway to find Nezik." He racked his brain, not even really noticing as Narcis left. He crossed his arms, thinking. "Maybe we should go back." He ventured an idea. It was a small one, but the only one he could think of right now. "He might check in later to see if you came back. Or we can look for some sign that he even went there initially." 'That is, assuming he does know where Katalina lives....' He couldn't help but feel as though he had helped encourage Nezik. Was it just coincidence that the merman had taken off not long after Joshua had visited. He'd seen the curiosity of Nezik, even answered his questions. This feeling of guilt made him want to help. Not that he wouldn't have helped anyways.
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Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2009 1:14 pm
"I hope so," answered Katalina sadly. "But even if we find him, getting him to go home will be a battle and a half. He doesn't know enough about the outside world to be there." She looked at Kra, who nodded briefly.
"Thank you for visiting with me," he said kindly. "I hope your young one will come to his senses and return to you soon."
Thus assured that Kra would not be insulted if they left, Katalina waved to the young kraken, all of whom waved cheerily back. "We will go back," she said softly. "I mean, Joey was there when we left, wasn't he? Perhaps Nezik would have seen him. If he did, we'll find him there."
As badly as she wanted to go home to the cove, she was also terrified to do it. Because if Nezik wasn't there...
She shook her head resolutely. If he wasn't there, well, she and Narcis would both be looking. The boy wouldn't go far. They would find him.
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Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2009 1:35 pm
"Thank you Kra. For letting me come and see this." Joshua gave Kra and the young kraken a wave good bye. He turned to Katalina and gestured for her to lead. He still didn't know his way around the waters outside the cove. "There's a good chance he saw Joey. Remember, Joey loves the sea as much as I do. He's bound to be near the waters edge. If Nezik comes up anywhere near the cove waters, he should easily spot Joey." Joshua was just thinking aloud, trying to find some kernel of hope for Katalina. He didn't like the looks both Narcis and the mermaid had. It was apparent that the young merman wasn't ready to deal with the world.
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Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2009 2:28 pm
Katalina nodded, appreciating the effort Joshua was making to make her feel better about her brother's disappearance. She didn't like this feeling of hopeless terror. "He's not ready for this," she said miserably. "He's so friendly and curious - if he's approached the right way by the wrong person, anything could happen." She didn't think he would betray the clan; he knew better. But he didn't know how to protect himself against the wrong kind of human, and that was what worried her.
"If only they'd let him go out," she said, more to herself than to Joshua. "If he'd had more freedom, then maybe he wouldn't have been driven to leave." Maybe. But then again, maybe he would have left anyway, the way she had.
Shaking her head, she sped up with a quick wave goodbye to Kra. If there was even the slightest chance her brother was there, she had to get home as fast as possible.
That brought up a thought. "Why did they send Narcis?" she muttered to herself. "Why didn't they send a member of the clan to talk to me?"
Did they know, after all? She'd told no one.
And right now it didn't matter, anyway. What mattered was finding Nezik before he did himself real harm.
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Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2009 2:34 pm
Joey, growing increasingly bored, decided to go out for a swim. He scanned the water, making sure that it was ok and Violet-free. He took off his shirt and looked at his wrapped knee. He shrugged it off. If it hurt, then it would hurt. Joey was used to ignoring pain. He walked to the the water and dove in. The water felt nice, like always. He swam out for a bit before allowing his body to float. He was relaxed, yet he never let his guard down.
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Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2009 2:38 pm
Joshua gave a sad smile. "I noticed how friendly he was. It just means we have to find him that much faster. We'll find him Katalina." He prayed that Joey was the only one near the cove. It was rare, but other humans did come by now and then. It was even rarer that they stayed though. He pushed that thought from his mind. He didn't want to think of the young merman being hurt.
Joshua followed behind Katalina, not commenting on the speed. He knew she wanted to find her brother. Even if she had left them, it was obvious that she still cared for them. Besides, he too wanted to find Nezik. He heard Katalina's mutterings but ignored them. Easy enough to tell she wasn't talking to him.
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Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2009 1:34 pm
Katalina nodded briefly as she swam, cutting through the water at a much faster pace than usual. She tried to remember Joshua and keep it at a reasonable speed for his sake, but her own fear kept making her go faster. Especially since...
She looked over at Joshua and said quietly, "It's possible he started out for the cove. Maybe he'll be there." It sounded like she was trying to reassure herself, because she knew that maybe he wouldn't. Maybe he had started out for the cove and gotten sidetracked, or something had happened to him along the way. Maybe he had never gone for the cove at all. He could be anywhere, and as long as he was out there, he wasn't where someone could keep an eye on this initiation to the world.
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Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2009 1:40 pm
Joshua tried his best to keep up to Katalina. He simply nodded in response to her, saving his breath for swimming. He would swim and not say anything. Actually, he would say something.....An idea made itself known in his mind. He knew that if it was him, he would hate to be slowed down when speed could be the essential factor. "Katalina, why don't you go ahead, see if he's there. If you just point me in the right direction, I can follow behind. Go see if you can find Nezik." Also, the closer he got to the cove, the less likely he was to get lost. Joshua knew the waters around the cove for a small distance.
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Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2009 1:49 pm
Katalina hesitated only briefly. "Keep going south-southwest," she told him, "until you reach the first of the islands. When you do, go straight west, and you'll find your way back." She smiled at him briefly. "Thank you." Then she turned and sped off, leaving almost a wake behind her as she raced back to the cove in an effort to catch up to her brother before he left - if he was there at all.
Which he would be. He would be, she told herself insistently. And if he wasn't? Well, then she would find Narcis, and they would try to figure out where else he might have gone. Her brother was the most precious to her of all her family. She couldn't bear the idea that her leaving might have given him an idea that might lead him to his death.
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Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2009 2:32 pm
Joey floated in the water, quite relaxed. He almost missed the flash of color out in the water. He flipped over and gaze out at sea. His eyes narrowed as he stared, trying to see through the sun's glare. It had been too big to be any fish from the reef...He slowly swam backwards, watching the waters closely.
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Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2009 2:52 pm
Joshua nodded as Katalina sped off. 'I hope she finds Nezik.' He didn't want to think of anything happening to the curious merman. He paused only long enough to catch his breath and check direction. Then he took off through the water, swimming at a fast human pace. It was nothing on Katalina's mermaid speed, but he had to work within his own limitations. He was soon approaching the first of the islands she had told him of. Joshua paused there to regain his breath.
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